Freedom To Surf (Jesse Polock Daughter Story)

Blue Bottles Or Sharks or something like that

Riley's pov

I am doing a mixture of front crawl and doggy paddle, doing whatever I can to keep my head up above the water and my eyes locked on the person. Whoever it is they are putting up a huge fight and if I get there in time, it will be a winning one.

I very quickly look how far out we are, and it's a place I don't like to be, right near the shark nets. I pick up my speed and swim faster toward them, with rough waves splashing and breaking over my head. I am only a few inches away from them, I can see it's an older woman, she is a strong swimmer, most would have gone under by now. I take a bout of strength and jump towards her, grabbing her hand. She is conscious but visibly shaken by the whole ordeal.

"Thank you," she says. Her voice is very tired and shaky, she doesn't speak much English, but saying thank you is a good start.

"No problem, it's my job," I reply back smiling, feeling proud of being a lifeguard for the first time since that rescue that got me suspended. "Let's go back in. You're going to be okay," This one of those times, that saying those five words, is actually comforting, since this time they are true and not just used for reassurance.

I swim us over to one of the buoys that the shark net is attached to. I look toward the shore. I could see almost every lifeguard who is on duty today watching us, and a couple preparing to launch the jetski. As much as I am extremely tired. I don't want to hang around here long, incase of, well you know. Its first name is white and second is the animal I fear, and the name begins with S... no not snake. But close.

I hold her in a lifeguard hold, she is basically sitting in my lab and I am bracing her head, not tilting her head back enough, that she is looking up at the sky, but enough that if she vomits, she won't choke on it. I hope she doesn't, but if she swallowed any water, then vomiting as unpleasant as is, will save her life and get it out of her lungs. I kick hard, while I am swimming backwards. If this were one land, I would have dropped her, before I even started. Even though we are going slow, it's fine, sometimes slow and steady wins the race, and in this case, slow is the only way we are getting in, at least this one step above dead stop.

I hear a whizzing sound coming toward us, guess what that is, if you said the jetski, you are right. It stops behind me and then turns around, so it's facing me, since I am going backwards. Whippet, Maxi and Jake are on it, Jake hanging on the board attached to the jetski, Whippet driving and Maxi sitting behind Whippet, holding on to his waist.. oh how romantic. 'Focus Riley,' I think to myself, shaking my head.

Jake jumps off the mat and grabs hold of the lady I am carrying, Maxi braces the mat and helps Jake pull her on. I am not sure what to do since I don't know if I am swimming back in or getting a ride, which would be much appreciated seeing as how tired I am. Maxi turns to me and reaches forward to grab my hand, helping pull me up to sit in his lab, keeping me safe from falling off the jetski, and also getting me very close to him and Whippet. Whippet roars the jetski back to life and we zoom back to the shore.

I feel so tired from that swim, I basically did a 300-meter swim in, like, 5 minutes. 'Geez, I've got to get in better shape if I want to compete in the lifeguard challenge,' I thought to myself. I will be the youngest competitor since Maxi entered at age 17. It's good timing too. My 16th birthday is a couple days after the challenge, so I will still be 15 on race day. I lean back and relax into Maxi's chest, listening to his heartbeat. The wind blows around us, whipping my hair around wildly. The salt water is spraying everywhere, thanks to the jet ski, splashing our skin and soaking our hair as we flew across the ocean.

"Just relax, sweetheart," he said to me. "You did a great job. Maybe we should change your nickname from troublemaker to eagle eyes," he says in a sarcastic tone.